Trump launches Twitter attack on China as he defends controversial phone call with Taiwan’s president

Donald Trump took to Twitter to insist he did not need China's permission to engage with Taiwan

By JENNY AWFORD

5th December 2016, 2:34 pm

Updated: 5th December 2016, 3:33 pm

DONALD Trump launched a scathing Twitter attack on China as he defended his decision to take a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's President.

The President-elect's controversial call broke with 37 years of US diplomatic protocol and prompted a furious response from China.

AP:Associated Press

Donald Trump launched a scathing Twitter attack on China as he defended his decision to take a call from Taiwan's President

Following the backlash, Trump took to Twitter to insist he did not need China's permission to engage with Taiwan - which Beijing views as a breakaway province.

He accused Beijing of currency manipulation and flexing its military might in the South China Sea.

"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them)," Trump tweeted on Sunday.

Twitter

Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to insist he did not need China's permission to engage with Taiwan

"Or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!"

His outburst came just hours after his team tried to downplay the fact that Trump could threaten a diplomatic rift with Beijing.

Vice-president-elect, Mike Pence, dismissed the row as “a tempest in a teapot”.

But Trump's critics pointed out the call was the first time a US president or president-elect has spoken to a Taiwanese leader since 1979.

The US has not formally recognised Taiwan as an independent state since it re-established diplomatic ties with the communist mainland over 40 years ago.

AP:Associated Press

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's called Trump - but both parties agreed to it beforehand